Responding to a Piece as a Reader

(This checklist is taken from Writing in Context One, by Clayton Graves, published by Nelson Canada in 1989)

The questions below will help you when you want to give feedback to another writer. Read them over to yourself after you have read the writer's piece. Think about your answers. Then talk to the writer.
Remember that your first job is to encourage the writer so that he or she will want to continue to write! Your second job is to help him or her improve the piece of writing--kindly.

How did the piece make you feel?

• What feelings did you have as your read the piece? Why did you feel this way?
• Did your feelings change as you read? If they did change, say how and why.
• What could you say to the author that would show how the piece made you feel?
• Suppose the author asked you for some advice on thie piece or on writing in general. What advice might you give?

What techniques did the author try?

• Did the author do anything special to make the piece
  • interesting to the reader?
  • easy to read?
  • attractive to look at?
• Can you find a spot in the piece that shows the author's own special "voice" or writing style?
• What are some examples in the piece that show the author worked hard to get just the right words?
• Can you find a technique that the author has borrowed from a professional writer?

How well did the piece work?

• Can you see what the author was trying to do with the piece? (Have you ever tried to do the same thing?)
• What are two or three things the author must have thought about while writing the piece?
• What did the piece tell you that you didn't know before?
• Did anything in the piece surprise you?
• Did it give you any new ideas for your own writing?